First off, a little bad news. Last week’s Suicide Squad mission was not only missing a few key members, but it also marked the end for the most important Task Force X recruit as Deadshot has since been “taken off the table” for Arrow Season 4. That’s a real shame because Michael Rowe’s Floyd Lawton was one of The CW superhero show’s most enjoyable recurring characters. Just another casualty in DC’s ‘Film V Television’ civil war. Speaking of the DCCU, this week’s first easter egg is related to the highly anticipated Batman V Superman as “Public Enemy” (well, “Public Enemies”) is also the title of a popular “Superman/Batman” comic book and animated adaptation. Sadly, though, there weren’t many other new DCU nods…
Wanted Man
Just like in the “Superman/Batman” comic of (roughly) the same name, our titular hero is being hunted by law enforcement because an avenging bald dude is abusing his power. Captain Lance will stop at nothing to put the Arrow behind bars, even if it means pulling a gun on his vigilante daughter a couple of times. Not a good idea with Nyssa still in town. And how about when Laurel jumped off the roof, trusting Oliver to catch her on the way down? She’s crazy. Thank god for trick arrows.
Ollie and Maseo’s rooftop rumble - one that also featured Arsenal and Black Canary fighting some random assassins - and the ensuing escape was one of the series’ best action sequences in some time. Even if the effort was all for naught, since Ra’s al Ghul and then Lance soon revealed the Arrow’s identity to all of Starling. Oliver briefly hides out at Dig and Lyla’s place before pulling a John Doe and turning himself in to the SCPD. There just doesn’t seem to be any other way out of this one until Roy decides to take his place “I am Spartacus” style.
Man Down
In one of his many rants this week about how the Arrow is responsible for the rise in vigilantism, Lance drops a few decent DCU references on the audience, including mention of the Huntress, the freak in Central City and the new guy flying around Starling. Of course, the new guy to which he’s referring is Ray Palmer, but the tech-billionaire is too busy with health problems to mix it up with the rest of the masks and, by association, also officially be branded a “Public Enemy.” You probably heard about the successful assassination attempt on the mayor that left Ray wounded on the Channel 52 News with Bethany Snow. At least the crisis meant the return of Felicity’s ‘Smoaking’ hot mom and the first instance of something shrinking thanks to Palmer Tech’s nanobot technology. Maybe the Atom will soon stop being an Iron Man rip-off? And can we have the 'Ms. Moneypenny' Felicity back instead of the one who cries every week?
Manhunt
The flashbacks in “Public Enemy” were as bad as they’ve ever been and dampened what was otherwise a pretty solid episode. The stuff with Shado’s twin sister Mei was just so out of left field and off the mark. Does Arrow have a problem firing actors? Why are we still dwelling on Yao Fei and Lian Yu? How may times are we going to watch Ivo kill Shado? I was happy to have finally left the island flashbacks behind after two seasons to watch Oliver’s adventures working for A.R.G.U.S. under Amanda Waller, but the show simply cannot forget the past. Or pass up any opportunity to tie the past and present threads together, no matter how heavy handed. “You have no idea how powerful the truth can be!” Oh, and of course Oliver chose Tommy as an alias. Just another of many ghosts that haunt Arrow. This show can be such a bummer.
Arrow continues with Episode 19, “Broken Arrow,” on Wednesday, April 15 at 8:00 p.m. ET on The CW. Created by Marc Guggenheim, Andrew Kreisberg and Greg Berlanti, the DC Comics inspired series stars Stephen Amell, Katie Cassidy, David Ramsey, Emily Bett Rickards, Willa Holland, Colton Haynes, Paul Blackthorne and John Barrowman.
